Recently, the cost of coffee has been at the top of mind. It was put there shortly after Starbucks launched their new instant coffee product called VIA Ready Brew. You can read a post on why I think it will succeed over at my main blog, Why Starbucks VIA Ready Brew will Succeed.

With VIA in Starbucks stores, the number of caffeine fixing product choices available to Starbucks customers is a little overwhelming. You have three sizes of drip, whole/ground beans to brew your own, a long list of customizable milk based espresso drinks and now VIA Ready Brew. But which one gives you the most bang for the buck? That is what I want to know.

After doing some research and compiling some data, I created the attached chart.

Clearly, you can see that the best value per ounce is actually the classic Folgers Instant. However, when walking into a Starbucks store, your best choice is the brew it yourself bag of beans at $0.05 per ounce.

If you don’t have time to brew it yourself and are on the go, ask for a Venti Drip… $0.11 per ounce with 20 ounces of goodness. Next, go for the 12-pack of VIA Ready Brew and mix it once you get to work.

Stay away from the milk based latte, mocha, frappies, etc. They can cost you double the Venti Drip with a fraction of the caffeine in them.

There will be a more in depth discussion of coffee, caffeine and consumer choices coming up over at my main blog.